Warner Applauds House Committee Passage of His Bills to Expand Care Options and Protect Patients on Medicare

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) welcomed House Ways and Means Committee passage of his Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services (ECAPS) Act and provisions from his Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act . “I am grateful to my colleagues on the House Ways and Means committee who stood up for patients on Medicare. These provisions will expand care options, especially for rural and underserved communities, and protect patients from fraud,” said Sen. Warner . “Local pharmacies can provide routine tests, vaccines, and treatments for common illnesses like flu and COVID, and they must have the resources they need to do it effectively. My Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act is a practical step to improving access to care, reducing the burden on hospitals and clinics, and making our health system work better for seniors. Provisions from my Hospice CARE Act will protect patients and taxpayers from bad actors attempting to steal essential resources.” The Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services (ECAPS) Act is bipartisan legislation that would ensure seniors can continue to access important clinical services from their pharmacist. The bill would allow Medicare to reimburse for certain pharmacist-administered tests, treatments, and vaccinations for illnesses like influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and strep throat, in accordance with state scope-of-practice laws. It is being renamed to the Main Street Pharmacy Access Act . Provisions from Sen. Warner’s Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act were also passed out of committee. Those provisions are: Revalidating hospices in states that are being monitored for high rates of hospice fraud; Increased surveys for hospices that are new, have changed ownership, are restarting billing Medicare after pausing, don’t submit required quality data, or have certain outlier billing patterns; Financial penalty for hospices that don’t submit required quality data; and Requiring Health and Human Services to send a written notice to beneficiaries enrolling in hospice to ensure they were not fraudulently added without their consent. ###